


Coping Mechanisms

by alltoseek



Series: The Burke House [1]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Family, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Foster Care, Kid Fic, Kid!Matty, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Parent!Burkes, Parenthood, kid!Alex, kid!Mozzie, kid!Neal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 03:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7960321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltoseek/pseuds/alltoseek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Much fanfic has explored Neal Caffrey as being or becoming literally the Burkes' son. What if in addition to Neal, Peter and Elizabeth adopted kids Mozzie, Matthew Keller, and Alex Hunter as well?</p><p>Pranks and pandemonium, that's what. High jinks and havoc. Shenanigans galore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coping Mechanisms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [feroxargentea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/feroxargentea/gifts).



At eight years old, Teddy still struggles to manage his emotions. He is upset easily by things most people hardly notice, and he often can't cope except with help from his favorite stuffed bear.

 

Which he currently doesn't have.

 

Teddy starts rocking, flapping his hands, keening. His brothers and sister ignore him, used to his bizarre antics.

The cries escalate into wails, his flapping hands start hitting his head, and he adds spinning to the rocking. Unfortunately, even these familiar comfortable routines are not resolving his initial problem.

His older brother Neal tries to calm him, murmuring soothing words and asking what's wrong. "We can fix it," he says. "Tell me what's wrong," he urges. Neal is eleven, and even after a year in the Burke household hasn't quite managed to grasp the essential concern of Teddy's life.

 

Neal's had his own problems to worry about.

 

The eldest brother, Matthew, now deprived of the attention of his favorite playmate, starts taunting the youngest: "Teddy the Freak!" he calls. "Teddy the Freak!" He laughs meanly.

Neal yells at Matty to stop. "You're not helping!"

Matty's only response is to lean back and repeat, "Teddy _is_ a Freak! Teddy the Freak, Teddy the Freak!"

Alex is their only sister. At four years old, she adores all her older brothers, alternating her admiration between Matty and Neal as they do things that impress or entertain her. Matty's refrain is irresistible, and, anyway, true. "Teddy the Freak!" she sing-songs in a high piercing voice. "Teddy the Freak!"

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!" Neal yells, exasperated. Poor Teddy, why are they all so mean to him? Can't they see they're just making it worse?

Alex says it again, giggling, and Neal, at wit's end, shoves at her. "Don't call him that!"

 

Alex stops saying it, breathless and wide-eyed, having landed plump on the floor. Then she starts crying. Loudly. 

 

Matty laughs even harder at this, calling out, "Neal hit Alex! Neal hit a little girl! Bad bad Neal!" He can't stop laughing at the mayhem. 

Neal, horrified by his own behavior, tries to console Alex: "I'm so sorry, Alex, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, please, Alex, I'm sorry." 

Alex keeps crying.

 

Mom (previously known as Elizabeth Burke) stomps down the stairs. "I can't even go to the bathroom for two minutes without the whole house getting in a uproar! What on earth is the matter now?!" 

 

Matty informs her, "Neal hit Alex, can you believe it?" He shakes head. "Big kid like him, knocking over a little 4-year-old girl." 

"My god, Neal! Why would you do such a thing?!" 

Neal's large blue eyes, made even bigger with pooling tears, look in turn at everyone, his face pale and horrified. Matty is still condescending with mock disapproval, shaking his head; Teddy is still rocking and flapping and wailing; Alex is still crying; Mom is frowning down at him, arms crossed. Neal reverts to his own best coping mechanism and runs out the front door. 

Elizabeth calls out, "Neal! Where are you – Come back here! Oh, for crying out loud!" she mutters to herself, and goes to pick up Alex. "Sweetie, are you OK? Are you hurt?" The little girl buries her face in the crook of Elizabeth's neck and shoulder. "OK, sweetie, you're fine," Elizabeth soothes, rubbing her back calmly. "Teddy, what's going on? Are you missing Mozart?"

Teddy doesn't respond, except to keep wailing and rocking and spinning and flapping.

Alex has an insight. "Oh, I know!" She squirms out of Mom's arms and runs over to pull Mozart out of a hiding spot near the fireplace. "Here you go, Teddy," she offers him kindly. "Oh wait." She pulls a little gold angel out of Mozart's arms. "Mozzie was keeping Angel safe for me, I hope that's OK."

Teddy snuggles with Mozart. "That's OK, that's OK, Mozzie safe, Mozzie safe," he says, words having found meaning for him again. 

 

Alex skips off to her room, grasping the angel tightly. 

 

Teddy takes Mozart to investigate the hiding spot. 

 

Elizabeth turns to Matty. "Are you all caught up on your homework?" 

"Yep, all done."

Elizabeth beams. "That's great! Would you please help me with dinner then?" 

"Oh, I thought I'd go look for Neal." 

"Oh, all right. Here," she writes a note for Neal. "Give this to him when you find him, please. First thing. No going off on your adventures; there's not enough time before dinner."

 

Later that night, after Neal, Angel, Mozart the bear, and Peter Burke (aka “Dad”) have all been restored to their respective rightful places, after dinner has been consumed and the washing up completed, kids bathed and brushed and put to bed, with all appropriate argument occurring in its expected places, Elizabeth mulls over Fate and one's own role in it.

Next door live June and her kids, Clinton and Diana and Lauren. They are all “perfect” – polite, well-mannered, do well in school, don't steal or shoplift or run away or get in fights. Elizabeth bewails, first to herself and then to her husband, "How can June do all that by herself and she gets the good kids and why did I get the bad ones? It must be that I'm an awful mother. But I try so hard! What am I doing wrong?"

Peter reassures her, or tries to. "The kids are all alive, right? All in one piece, even? And they're here, at home, in bed, sleeping. Sometimes, that's all you can ask. Maybe that's all we can do, as parents, some days. Just keep them alive from one day to the next. Hope they make it to adulthood in one piece."

Elizabeth sits up. "That's it?!? That's your highest aspiration - 'keep them alive until they're 18'? That's the most you hope for," she adds, depressingly.

"Hon, that's not what I meant, you know that. Of course we want more for them. But, El, you know our kids had it rough before we ever got them. I'm just saying, some days, that they even have a mom and dad and a home and a bed to sleep in – that they're not out on the street or in juvenile detention or living with abusers – that we're doing as much as we can for them."

"Well, when you put it like that... But then why do June's kids do so much _better_?"

"I don't know and neither do you and we all just do the best we can. Any day they're all safe and sleeping we did good. OK? We did good. Now, get some sleep. Neal's got swim practice in the morning and I'm taking Matty to his court appearance."

"Oh!" Elizabeth remembers. "Can you drop Alex off at preschool? I know it'll be early but I already set it up with the child center so we can do that."

"Um," Peter responds. "Sure, I can drop her off."

"It's that Teddy's behavior specialist cancelled the morning session so he'll have to come with me to Neal's swimming."

"Ah, got it. Now no more worries for tonight; go to sleep." Peter kisses his wife goodnight.

"Yeah," El sighs. "Tomorrow we get to do it all over again."

"Yep, and we'll do our best, like always, OK, hon?" Lying down, he curls close to her.

"OK, hon. Love you." She kisses him goodnight, then snuggles with him back down under the covers.

"Love you too. Good night."

 

Then, for at least this brief moment, peace descends over the Burke house.


End file.
